One of the fastest growing customer complaints with respect to telephone services regards slamming and cramming. Slamming is the illegal practice of changing a customer's local or long distance telephone service provider without the permission of the customer. Cramming is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive products, services, or charges on customers' telephone bills without customer permission. Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, telephone companies are required to track, record, and report customer complaints of alleged slamming and cramming.
When a customer suspects a slam or cram, the customer typically calls a customer service representative (CSR) for the customer's telephone company to report the incident and seek corrective measures. Typically, the CSR solicits pertinent information from the customer regarding the alleged slam or cram and enters information regarding the slam or cram into a database in order to track the slamming and cramming complaints and therefore remain in compliance with FCC regulations. Although this is not a difficult task, it is costly and time consuming for the telephone companies because tracking, recording, and reporting alleged slams and crams consumes CSR time that could be better utilized in revenue producing services or in customer satisfaction services.